Design Assistance Tool

1. A method of generating a circuit design, comprising: using a programmed processor, performing operations including: retrieving a set of design assistance rules from a database, each design assistance rule in the set including: a respective list of design objects to which the design assistance rule applies; a respective set of criteria to be satisfied by the circuit design for the design assistance rule to be applicable to the circuit design; a respective executable script configured to perform an automated configuration of the circuit design; and a respective set of configuration options for the automated configuration of the circuit design; in response to a change in the circuit design, for each design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, determining whether or not the respective set of criteria is satisfied by the circuit design; in response to determining that the criteria in the respective set are satisfied for one or more design assistance rules of the set of design assistance rules, outputting data indicating that the one or more design assistance rules are available; and in response to input that selects a design assistance rule of the one or more design assistance rules, executing the executable script corresponding to the selected design assistance rule.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to the input that selects the design assistance rule, providing a graphical user interface for selection of options from the set of configuration options corresponding to the selected design assistance rule; and wherein the executable script is configured to perform the automated configuration of the circuit design according to the selected options.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one of the set of design assistance rules, the corresponding set of configuration options lists options for one or more design objects that are available to be added in a next stage in a design process.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one of the set of design assistance rules, the respective executable script is configured to connect a cell indicated by the input to one or more other cells of the circuit design.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, the respective executable script is configured to, in response to two directly connected cells of the circuit design having conflicting parameter values, infer parameter values for the two directly connected cells that resolve the conflict.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, the respective executable script is configured to, in response to two directly connected cells of the circuit design having conflicting parameter values, add circuitry to the circuit design that is configured to resolve the conflict.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, the respective executable script is configured to set parameters of an IP cell of the circuit design that is indicated by the input.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, the respective executable script is configured to identify cells of the circuit design that match a criterion indicated by the input.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, the respective list of design objects includes IP cells, nets, ports, pins, and interfaces.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein for at least one design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, the respective set of criteria includes, for each option in the respective set of configuration options, a respective subset of criteria to be satisfied by the circuit design for the configuration option to be available.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operations further include: receiving an IP cell package including an IP cell and a design assistance rule; adding the design assistance rule of the IP cell package to the set of design assistance rules; in response to input, adding an instance of the IP cell to the circuit design; and using the design assistance rule of the IP cell package to configure one or more parameters of the instance of the IP cell.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more design assistance rules having respective sets of criteria determined to be satisfied includes at least one design assistance rule having a respective set of criteria that was previously determined to not be satisfied based on a previous state of the circuit design.

13. A system for generation of a circuit design, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured with instructions that when executed by the processor implement a modeling process and a graphical user interface (GUI) process; wherein the modeling process is configured to: retrieve a set of design assistance rules from a database; in response to a change in the configuration of a circuit design, for each design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules, determine whether or not a corresponding set of design criteria included in the design assistance rule is satisfied by the circuit design; and in response to input selecting one of the design assistance rules in a set, executing a respective executable script included in the design assistance rule; and wherein the GUI process is configured to, in response to the modeling process determining that the respective set of criteria is satisfied for one or more of the design assistance rules: display a graphical message indicating that the one or more design assistance rules is available; and provide a mechanism to receive input selecting one of the design assistance rules.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the GUI process is further configured to provide a mechanism to select included in the selected one of the design assistance rules.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the modeling process is further configured to, in response to input selecting one of the design assistance rules in the set of design assistance rules, determine whether or not each option in a respective set of options is available based on a subset of the set of criteria corresponding to the design assistance rule.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein each design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules includes a respective list of design objects to which the design assistance rule may be applied.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein for at least one design assistance rule in the set of design assistance rules a respective set of configuration options lists options for a set of design objects that may be added in a next stage in a design process.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein the respective executable script included in the one design assistance rule is configured to connect a cell of the circuit design, indicated by the input, to one or more other cells of the circuit design.

19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the respective executable script included in the selected design assistance rule is configured to set parameters of an IP cell of the circuit design that is indicated by the input selecting the design assistance rule.

20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the respective executable script included in the selected design assistance rule is configured to identify cells of the circuit design that match a criterion indicated by the input selecting the design assistance rule.